Let's Play Explorers: A Two-Shot (Ez/Lux)

Let's Play Explorers: A Two-Shot (Ez/Lux)

"I'll be Ezreal the Awesome, going to lands no man has gone before, and you shall be my fated arch-nemesis, Luxanna the Lunatic!" Ez and Lux as children... and their reunion on the Fields of Justice.

::-::

"Let's play explorers. I'll be Ezreal the Awesome, going to lands no man has gone before, and you shall be my fated arch-nemesis, Luxanna the Lunatic!"

"But I don't wanna. We always play explorers. Why can't we be—um—magicians! You can be Ezreal the... uh... Enlightened?"

"Hmm... And you'll still be my fated arch-nemesis, Luxanna the Lunatic!"

"No! I'll be your master, Luxanna the Lovely!"

"Ewww, you sound gross."

The two lively children, perched precariously on one of Piltover's energy pillars, were nearly invisible to the public. The City of Progress was far too concerned with its upcoming inventions to take any heed of two youngsters frolicking about.

A pity. They would miss quite the show.

"Well then," Luxanna said, quite huffily, "how would you like always being the bad guy that everyone hates, and you don't even get to do anything interesting!"

"You get to do a lot of interesting things!" Ez said, starting to count on his fingers. "You get to be tossed by my Energy Bolt of Extravagance; you get to be mortally wounded by my Plasma of Perfection; you get to be slain by my Lighting of Lamination—"

"Luminosity, Ezreal the Effeminate!" Lux puffed. "Lamination is what they do for paper!"

Ez shrugged. "Luminosity, Lamination, whatever. Don't you see how much you get to do?"

Luxanna Crownguard opened her eyes with a grin, filled with the thrill of her first match. Training could not have prepared her for the pure excitement of being summoned by the League. Although Demacia and Piltover had agreed to form a temporary alliance against Noxus's latest border dispute, she'd hardly expected to be chosen—much less by one of the most experienced Summoners in the system.

What should I get? she asked.

Try a pink ward, some sight wards, and a bunch of pots, her Summoner responded. A mana pot wouldn't be a bad choice, too.

Lux tossed her bag of coins at the shopkeeper, scooping up her Summoner's suggestions, and headed out. She passed by Jayce, Orianna, and Jarvan as she walked to the bottom lane. Four, including her. The person she was supposed to lane with was missing...

Wait, her Summoner said. Pretty Boy wants to go for golems.

Lux didn't understand the reference, but she obediently slipped into the jungle. Her last teammate was waiting for her there, with arms folded and foot tapping and looking an awful lot like—

Ow! Lux, watch your mental screaming?

S-sorry, but...

It was Ezreal. There was no mistaking that unruly shock of yellow hair, that distinctive, stubborn jawline, that ever-present hint of a mischevious grin.

After all these years, she'd actually run into Ezreal.

As her feet carried her to the giant stone golems, Lux was swept up in a flurry of emotion. Ezreal? After so many years? What was he doing here? Oh, how she had missed him, and he'd grown up to be so handsome... He did remember the adventures they'd had together as children, didn't he?—Oh, what if he'd forgotten, what if he couldn't recognize—Well! It wasn't even her fault that they'd had that whole argument—and he'd said he'd hated her first—but what if he still hated her, all because of that foolish, childish—

"Lux!"

Ez bolted forward and slammed into her, his arms stranging her ribcage. When he pulled back, Lux was able to see that a broad grin had covered his entire face.

Good heavens, how she envied him. How was he able to think so—so simply? He felt only joy—pure, unadulterated joy—while she felt a whole mess of things that almost made her want to cry...

"Ez," she mumbled, hands hanging awkwardly at her sides. She struggled as hard as she could to keep tears out of her eyes. That would be awful for Ez.

"Lux?" Ez said, smile completely gone, eyebrows lifted in concern. He was hurt by her response. She could see it.

Just hug him already! her Summoner muttered into her mind.

Lux squared her shoulders. Stepped forward. Opened her mouth.

Then the golems spawned.

She and Ez pivoted about, instinctively throwing an array of shimmering missiles toward the closest golem. Lux heard a frustrated sigh from her Summoner as they proceeded to kite the golems between them, finishing them off with barely any wounds.

They returned to lane in silence. Lux wanted to comment on their teamwork against the golems. She wanted to discuss the upcoming strategy. She wanted to tell him that she'd missed him. She wanted to ask if he'd missed her. But now her tongue was tied up and her stomach was clenching and she bore the uncomfortable silence. Ez made no move to break it, either—he stared straight ahead, almost as if he'd forgotten she'd existed.

Draven and Morgana came to lane shortly after they arrived. When Lux planted a ward in the opposite bush, she saw a wisp of dark aura slip away.

No snare? she prompted her Summoner.

All good things to those who wait, he replied humorously.

You were snacking, weren't you.

That doesn't sound like a question.

Lux rolled her eyes, popping out of the bush to snag a free hit on Draven before ducking back in. Morgana fired a blind Dark Binding that went wide. Lux countered with a whimsical Luscent Singularity.

Sooo. You and Pretty Boy.

It missed.

I'm trying to fight here, Lux said.

You can multitask.

Lux tossed out a snare. This time, it landed right on Draven.

"Ez, now!" she yelled, tossing out an exploding orb. Golems had sped along their experience to level 2. They could easily get first blood.

She took an axe to the gut as Ex blinked next to her, dodging Morgana's Dark Binding and firing his various missiles with ardor. Draven's Summoner attempted to blink him away, but that did nothing to stop them as he was felled with surgical efficiency.

"Nice," Ez said, but he wasn't smiling. He went right back to farming without a single glance at her.

Lux bit her lip as she headed to the river to ward. When she came back, she started harassing the retreating Morgana. "Hey, Ez."

"Uh-huh."

Morgana, now at 2, shielded herself and slipped away. "Did you get stuck with a bad Summoner or something?"

"No."

"Then... Well, you seem kind of... touchy?"

He snorted in a rather disbelieving manner. "Do I?"

Lux gritted her teeth. "Yes, you do."

He tossed her a look. "And you're concerned... why?"

Stunned, Lux drew back. Just a few moments ago, Ez had been friendly enough. Now, he was being completely cold to her.

"Ez," she began, but he interrupted her.

"Just let me farm."

She clamped her mouth shut, indignation welling up in her gut. Well, if he was going to be downright rude...

Draven and Morgana returned to lane while she and Ez were still sulking. Lux couldn't help but feel a stab of disappointment at how her adventure-driven childhood friend had grown up to be a jerk. She shouldn't have expected any different; a lot did happen in so many years—but for some reason, some little part of her expected that he wouldn't change that much.